


Fire Season

by RebaK1tten



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hale family fire, pre-slash?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-03-04
Packaged: 2018-01-14 11:58:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1265689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebaK1tten/pseuds/RebaK1tten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's fire season in California and Stiles goes to check on Peter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire Season

Stiles sits outside the apartment building, wondering if he’s doing the right thing.

He decided to check up on Peter after Derek came to tell Scott that he was leaving town for a few days.  He asked more than told Scott, which was strange in itself; Derek has been helping Scott, but doesn’t exactly act like his beta. And he didn’t look at all like himself, jumpy and almost pale, or pale for him. Scott seemed to understand his need to leave and suggested Monterey, a good distance from the wild fires, and right on the coast where it would be cooler. Seeing the relief in Derek’s eyes made Stiles feel better, but made him wonder about Peter.

When Stiles asked Scott if he had any problems with Stiles checking on Peter, Scott just shrugged and said, “I don’t care, whatever. Why do you care?”

Stiles couldn’t answer right away, but just remembered something his mother used to tell him – if you’re not sure what to do, make your decision based on what’s nice.  It seemed simple and Pollyannaish, but when he gets out of the car, it’s seems like the right thing to do. 

There’s been “spare the air” warnings all week and even though they’re miles away from any fires, you can still smell the burning wood.  The air’s hazy and when you’re outside for longer than an hour, your eyes start to burn. 

Derek gave Stiles his key to Peter’s apartment, but Stiles knocks and calls out before he enters, because Peter isn’t a wolf you want to startle.

“What are you doing here?” Peter asks.  He’s standing by the big picture window, looking out at a field behind his apartment.  The sky is gray, but the sun can still be seen, which is good, it means the fire isn’t that bad yet.

Stiles shrugs.  “Just thought I’d check on you, not sure if you knew, but Derek went out of town for a bit.”

“I didn’t know that. He’s okay?” Peter asks, but doesn’t turn around.

“Yeah, I think so.  He just wanted to leave for a few days.  Look, this is really awkward for both of us, so tell me if you want me to leave.  I just wanted to be sure you’re okay.” Stiles sits on the edge of couch, watching Peter who still hasn’t moved.

“I’m fine,” he shrugs.  “It’s fine. Thanks for coming by.”

“You know, the fires are like 100 miles away and the city’s done controlled burns earlier this year. They’re saying it’s 40% contained. But maybe you should take off for a bit, too.”

Peter turns and sits on the window sill. “I can’t exactly just take off, I have a job.”

“Maybe you can take some PTO?” Stiles suggests.  He’s way over his head here, surprised that Peter even has a job.

“No,” Peter replies, shaking his head, looking down.  “I don’t… I don’t want to be chased out of town by this. It would be like,” he pauses and looks thoughtful and angry. “I don’t want it to win, Stiles. Fire took my family and six years of my life and I don’t want to give it anything else. Does that make sense?”

“Sure, yeah, I understand,” Stiles replies and he does. Sometimes it’s how he feels about his ADD, it takes too much.

“I do hate it though,” Peter says. “Sometimes the smell kind of sneaks up on me.”

“I get that,” Stiles says, nodding. “Scott and I will go to the hospital to drop dinner off for his mom and sometimes I’ll pass a room and it’ll have a smell that just takes me back to my mom in the hospital.”

“I would imagine so, smell can be a huge trigger for memories.  The wildfires really don’t smell like a house fire at all, you know.  A house on fire, there’s a lot of chemicals in a house.  You can smell the paint burning and insulation and…”

_‘Please don’t say it, please don’t say it,’_ Stiles thinks.

“The smell of furniture and carpet burning.  There’s wood certainly, but not like you’d think,” Peter finishes.

“Peter… if you want to talk, I’ll listen.  If you want me to go, I will.  If you want me to stay and just shut up and keep you company, I’ll do that.  Just let me know,” Stiles says.

Peter looks at him for a long time, saying nothing, small smile on his face.  Finally he says, “I don’t know if you could sit and say nothing, I’m almost tempted to ask for that.”  He rises and walks towards the kitchen, calling out, “Would you like some coffee?  Or some tea?  Tea might be nice, do you like Darjeeling?”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” Stiles says.  He can hear water running and dishes moving in the kitchen and he sits back and tries to get comfortable.

“Stiles, I was going to watch The Maltese Falcon.  Would you like to watch that? With me?”

He’s heard of it, but never seen it. “That’s a mystery, right?” Stiles asks. 

“No,” Peter replies, carrying in two mugs.  “It’s _the_ mystery.  I think you'll like Sam Spade. It’s in the player, why don’t you queue it up?”

Stiles grabs the remote from the coffee table and gets comfortable on what’s now his end of the couch, mug of steamy tea on the table beside him.  Peter sits on the opposite side of the couch and smiles into his mug.

Yes, Stiles thinks, this was the right decision. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm saying it's pre-slash, because it's always pre-slash to me.


End file.
